Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Hebe hybrida cultivar Champseiont.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hebe plant, botanically known as Hebe hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Champseiontxe2x80x99.
The new Hebe was discovered by the Inventor in 1995 in a controlled environment in Gwynedd, United Kingdom, as a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Hebe hybrida cultivar Autumn Glory, not patented. The new Hebe was selected by the Inventor on the basis of its small dark green-colored leaves.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hebe by cuttings in a controlled environment in Gwynedd, United Kingdom, since 1995, has shown that the unique features of this new Hebe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Champseiont have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Champseiontxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Champseiontxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, upright and somewhat outwardly spreading plant form.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. Small dark green-colored foliage that becomes purple in color during the winter.
Plants of the cultivar Champseiont are most similar to plants of the parent, the cultivar Autumn Glory. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gwynedd, United Kingdom, plants of the new Hebe differed from plants of the cultivar Autumn Glory in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hebe had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar Autumn Glory.
2. Plants of the new Hebe had darker green-colored leaves than plants of the cultivar Autumn Glory.
3. Plants of the new Hebe were more resistant to pathogens common to Hebe than plants of the cultivar Autumn Glory.